


Unbonded Souls

by letsgooutintherain



Series: Of Bonded Souls [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M, Soulbond AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 19:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4192335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsgooutintherain/pseuds/letsgooutintherain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It could have been a day like any other. A day of coming back to Central with another lead turned false. The second Ed entered the office and his eyes locked with Mustang's they both knew and the knowledge slammed home like a battering ram.<br/>They cold forge a bond!<br/>Actually doing so was another matter entirely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unbonded Souls

It could have been a day like any other. A day of coming back to Central with another lead turned false. The second Ed entered the office and his eyes locked with Mustang's they both knew and the knowledge slammed home like a battering ram. 

They cold forge a bond!

It was a fairly rare occurrence. Most people met no more than a hand full of people in their life with which they could build one, be it for friendship or love.

Ed had never met anyone before. And now there was Mustang.

For five endless seconds they stared at each other before Mustang looked away and then up again, his face back to the neutral mask he always wore. 

Ed breathed in relief. The last thing he needed was a soulbond to the colonel bastard. He had Al and their quest to think of. A bond would only inconvenience him.

He didn't question why now. Not until they went to fetch Winry from Gracia and Hughes. Not until he learned that Hughes was dead.

***

They never talked about it, never acknowledged it after these first five seconds, but the feeling drummed into him whenever they met anyway. And sometimes at night Ed wondered what it would be like to have a soulbond with this man. Not now, but later when he had time. When Al was back in his body.

Yes Roy was a bastard, but Ed wasn't stupid. Roy was a good person, despite everything he had done. He looked out for him and Al, he could be playful and genuinely funny, he was a brilliant alchemist, if a bit flashy. 

He was nice when he didn't try to rile Ed up.

So he wondered and wondered, but Mustang would find someone else to forge a bond with anyway and each time Ed entered the office he braced himself for the inevitable loss of that potential between them. 

It never came.

***

The day Ed walked into the office, a once again flesh and blood Alphonse in tow and high on the giddy feeling of their success, he considered talking to Roy about the bond, but when their eyes met over the cheers and laughter and all the smiling faces in the office, his determination faltered. Roy looked genuinely happy for them, but there was nothing else in his gaze.

What if Roy wasn't interested in a bond? After all the man could have made a move ages ago. The thought put a damper on Ed's mood, but he forced himself to push it aside. Al was back in the flesh and there was nothing more important than him. Soon Ed was laughing again, like the rest of the team until Hawkeye called them back to work with the promise that they could celebrate after working hours.

And celebrate they did that night. Winry had come from Rush Valley, Armstrong had heard about it through some technique that had been passed down the Armstrong family for generations and Roy brought Gracia and Elicia even if they didn't stay long.

Edward couldn't remember how long it had been since he had smiled that much. His gaze drifted to Roy, but even while being right in the middle of their celebration he somehow kept aloof of it, a superior officer even now.

When Ed talked to him it was the usual teasing and a congratulation, but if by coincidence or because of Roy's ability to guide the topic, Ed could never find a place to bring up what stood between them.

***

Ed stayed in the military. He didn't even know why he did it. Not exactly. Part of it was for Roy, for his dream and his goal. And, even if he didn't like the thought, he stayed to be close to the man.

They didn't have a base for a bond. Not yet, but perhaps they could work on that. It might be stupid without talking about it. Roy might be averse to the idea no matter what, but Ed found that he liked him and, whether they would forge that bond or not, he wanted to be a part of his life. 

A small part of him knew that he was falling for the man. That he would hurt himself if Roy didn't feel the same, but Ed pushed that voice back. Not every bond was based in love. He had no reason to make anything more out of this. He would be fine. 

And like this life went on. They fought over orders and argued about Ed's size and Roy's uselessness and Ed went home to Al studying at the university and Winry as their long term guest, whilst the two of them learned to deal with their own bond. 

As far as Ed was concerned, things could hardly be better.

***

The mission came as a surprise and not a nice one.

"This is a fucking terrible place to die," Ed muttered, leaning back against the trunk of the tree they had hidden in.

"Then it would be a good idea to survive, don't you think," Roy replied from a branch a bit under and slightly to the left of Ed's. 

"Of course it would. If I didn't Al would kill me."

"That's a bit contradictory, Ed."

"Whatever, bastard." Ed closed his eyes, trying to ignore how much his body hurt and how fucking cold it was. "I'm not the one with the head wound."

"Well as you see, I'm still clear headed."

"You fucking better are. Speaking of which. Is it still bleeding?"

"No."

Silence descended around them in which Ed listened into the night for their pursuers. He could hear nothing over the rain, but they couldn't be far. So much for a simple mission...

"Do you think they will fall for it?" Ed asked. 

"I wouldn't have agreed if I thought they wouldn't," Roy replied, "They will look through all these ruins before they will think of trying somewhere else. Nobody in his right mind would think we stayed in the rain."

"Yeah, especially since they know who they are dealing with," Ed replied. He was too tired to make the useless jibe any more clear. Roy seemed to pick up on it anyway. 

"Say's the shrimp." It sounded more tired than teasing.

"Fuck you," Ed muttered, with even less heat behind it.

There was another silence, but they couldn't fall asleep. Not in a tree. Not in the middle of enemy territory. 

Shouts in the distance ended his dilemma. The hunt was on again.

***

"Come on, up you get!" Ed said, breathing hard from their sprint. He stretched his hand out to pull Roy to his feet.

The second their hands connected the ever present sense of possibility between them flared up into a roaring fire.

Ed pulled back reflexively as if he had been burned. "What the hell, bastard. What was that?" Why now of all times? They weren't in the clear. Not yet. The hardest part was still before them.

Roy pulled back and Ed could see his eyes shut off, back to the indifferent mask he always presented. "Oh no, don't you dare," Ed growled, grabbing for Roy's hand again, "Don't you dare back out. I didn't wait for fucking ever for you to change your mind now."

"Fullmetal, Ed, you..." Roy started.

Ed reached for his soul, just like Roy must have done before.

Roy's eyes went wide when he met Ed's but he didn't pull back. Instead he let his soul answer the call of Ed's and just like that something sparked between them. 

It felt like falling. It felt like flying. It felt like sinking into a warm bath. And suddenly Roy was right there. Everything that Ed associated with him and so much more catalysed into a single feeling that wrapped around him. And when he concentrated there was a vague sense of what he supposed was what Roy felt. Happiness and love, but also fear and worry.

Ed could do nothing but stare in wonder. This essence of Roy, there was so much strength in there, so much compassion under his indifference that Ed had only seen glimpses of before. There was darkness too, an echo of humans crying in agony. A hundred facets that would take a lifetime to study.

Roy's eyes were wide, staring at him in awe and a hand reached out to cup Ed's face. 

Ed didn't hesitate. It didn't matter why now. It didn't matter that this was the worst possible place for this, that they would most likely die. All that mattered was that he had waited forever for this and that he didn't intend to die without having this at least once. He dove in for a kiss and for a short while nothing else mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> For Roy/Ed Week 2015 day 4. Prompt: AU.  
> All mistakes are my own.


End file.
